"Unwind" by Neal Shusterman

Unwind the first book in the Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman was amazing to say the least. It wasn't first person or really even third person perspective. It was almost a combination of the both.  I really enjoyed Neal's writing style. The book has a touch of everything: suspense, mystery, love, survival. The story line itself gives me the chills, it's scary to think about what the future of the world could hold.


After a war between pro-life and pro-choice, the country agreed upon the bill of life.
Babies could no longer be aborted, however; they could now "abort" children between the ages of 13 -17.
It wasn't really killing the kids after all; they were just living in a divided state. They called it unwinding.
If parents could no longer handle the kids behavior they sign the papers, and off the kids go. Their bodies get taken apart piece by piece, and they become live organ donors. No piece of them goes to waste, every piece goes somewhere. Then there's storking. You don't want your baby to begin with? Not a problem after you give birth, as long as you don't get caught you can leave it on someone else's door step and make it their problem. It's entirely legal.


There's three main perspectives.

Connor Lassiter: A rebellious teen always getting into fights, so his parents want him gone.

Risa Ward: An orphan, a ward of the state, is being unwound due to cost-cutting.

Lev Calder: A tithe, It's been his parents plan to have him unwound since birth for religious purposes. 

For the better or for the worse their paths intertwine and leave all their lives hanging by a thread.


I LOVED this book so much! I'm already half way through it's sequel, Unwholly.  I had originally thought it was a trilogy, but have just come to the realization that he's writing a fourth book. I'm WAY excited. The excitement doesn't end there, not only is there fourth book, but from what I understand there's also a possible movie in the making. I'm thrilled! Unwind was really unique compared most dystopian novels I've read. It's all fiction obviously, but Neal based a lot of ideas for the book off of real events. I found myself seriously disturbed after looking up the news articles Neal referenced. I HIGHLY recommend this book!

                                                                                                                                                                                         Rating  5 out of 5.

"The Cold Awakening Trilogy" by Robin Wasserman

                                     

                                Frozen          Shattered            Torn

"The Cold Awakening Trilogy" by Robin Wasserman definitely awakens some creative thinking.

It's fast paced, thrilling, and almost scary to think about with technology developing as fast as it is. It' also shows the things that really make us human.

        The download saved me. I keep telling myself to be greatful, hoping eventually I will be. I can handle the fact that no one  likes the new me. What I can't handle though, is when I look in the mirror. I'm nothing like the old me, the human me, I might not even be human at all. Somehow though i'm still Lia.

         I tried fitting in, then I tried running. Someone's out to get us. To get me. Revenge, avenge, justice. Forgiveness or hatred? Should I let go of the things that make me human, or to cling to them for dear life because it's all that I really have, it's the only thing that makes me still me.

       When I took the this path , I didn't expect things to get so out of hand. I didn't truly understand all the secrets there could be covered up, but now I understand. I understand it all and I have to save them.

At first I was very conflicted about this trilogy. It was well written, and creative, plenty of action, but I struggled with it. I'd love it,  then hate it, then love it. I'd hate, then love a character, then hate again. I was just very back and forth. Now having finished all three books I'm disappointed. I'm not disappointed because of the ending, but because it's the end. I want a fourth book. I think the third book was my favorite. We finally get to uncover all the dark secrets, some of which literally made my jaw drop. Robin Wasserman is definitely a great author!

                                                                                                                       

                                                                   My Rating is 4 out of 5.

The only thing negative I can really say now having finished the books, is the "religious" people Robin made it in. I'm a Christian so the fact that the only "religious" people in it were psycho and murderous kind of bothered me, but other then that I enjoyed the books.

"Promised" by Caragh O'Brien

Warning: this is the third & final book in the Birthmarked Trilogy. If you haven't read the first two books you may not want to read this.

Promised by Caragh O'Brien was a great read. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and it had an interesting love story. 


Gaia Stone had survived the Enclave. She had escaped to the waste land and survived that also. She is now ruling Sylum. Sylum is slowly dying and the only way to save it is for Gaia to do the unthinkable. She has to lead her people back to the Enclave. Leaving the Enclave on such bad terms has Gaia feeling frightened, but she has no choice. She knew everything wouldn't go smoothly when they got there, but she also hadn't anticipated all that would be asked of her. All that she would have to sacrifice in order to survive. It's all up to her. 


I loved this trilogy. Some of the things in this last book literally made my jaw drop. I didn't see a lot of it coming. Some of the story was rather heart-breaking, yet in my opinion the good out-weighed the bad, which I liked. Needless to say I recommend this trilogy.

                                                                              Rating 5 out of 5.